True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

Why has punditry overtaken news, with so many media outlets pushing partisan agendas instead of information? Comedian Stephen Colbert's catchword "truthiness" has captured something essential about our age: that people are more comfortable with ideas that feel true, even if the evidence for those beliefs is thin.

"A High-Stakes Bet: Turning Google Assistant into a 'Star Trek' Computer" is from the September 28, 2016 Technology section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Fleet Cooper.

The Alt-Majority: How Social Networks Empowered Mass Protests Against Trump

Over two weekends, the protests have accomplished something just about unprecedented in the nearly two years since Trump first declared his White House run: They have nudged him from the media spotlight he depends on. They are the only force we’ve seen that has been capable of untangling his singular hold on the media ecosystem.

How Y2K Offers a Lesson for Fighting Climate Change

Last week, New York magazine published a riveting and frightening look at the future of the planet we call home. Now that global warming is well underway, we are in for an apocalyptic awakening, and “parts of the Earth will likely become close to uninhabitable, and other parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as the end of this century,” the writer, David Wallace-Wells, argues.

"How Y2K Offers a Lesson for Fighting Climate Change" is from the July 19, 2017 Science section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Keith Sellon-Wright.

How Twitter Is Being Gamed to Feed Misinformation

After last year’s election, Facebook came in for a drubbing for its role in propagating misinformation — or “fake news,” as we called it back then, before the term became a catchall designation for any news you don’t like. The criticism was well placed: Facebook is the world’s most popular social network, and millions of people look to it daily for news.

"How Twitter Is Being Gamed to Feed Misinformation" is from the May 31, 2017 U.S. section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Mike DelGaudio.

On Russian Meddling, Mark Zuckerberg Follows a Familiar Playbook

Scandals involving Facebook tend to follow a well-worn pattern: Throughout the social network’s short history, when the company has felt pummeled by users or lawmakers or shareholders over one of the dozens of controversies that have plagued its rise, there comes a moment when the clamor reaches a fever pitch. You begin to wonder why on earth they aren’t doing more. Just then, Zuckerberg will issue a blog post, and these days, a live video, too — as he did Thursday, in a short address on Facebook’s role in Russia’s interference of last year’s presidential election.

"On Russian Meddling, Mark Zuckerberg Follows a Familiar Playbook" is from the September 22, 2017 Technology section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Barbara Benjamin-Creel.

Apple Unveils iPhone X and 8 Models as It Upgrades TV Set-Top Box

Apple unveiled the iPhone X, the latest version of its flagship smartphone, at the first news media event at the company’s new Silicon Valley campus on Tuesday. The $999 price of the highly anticipated phone — scheduled to ship on Nov. 3 — makes it the most expensive iPhone model ever.

"Apple Unveils iPhone X and 8 Models as It Upgrades TV Set-Top Box" is from the September 12, 2017 Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Brian X. Chen, Farhad Manjoo and Vindu Goel and narrated by Kristi Burns.

One Way to Fix Uber: Think Twice Before Using It

You gasp with each new report on Uber’s toxicity. On Tuesday, there was the harassment and discrimination documented in an endless list of internal recommendations by Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general, who was hired to peer into Uber’s ugly depths. Then, while presenting the report to employees, an Uber board member made a sexist remark. (He later resigned.) All of it comes after a parade of escalating scandals that seem more fitting at a company run by Tony Soprano than by nerds in San Francisco.

"One Way to Fix Uber: Think Twice Before Using It" is from the June 14, 2017 Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Kristi Burns.

These Days, Moon Shots Are Domain of the Valley

One persistent criticism of Silicon Valley is that it no longer works on big, world-changing ideas. Every few months, a dumb startup will make the news — most recently the one selling a $700 juicer — and folks outside the tech industry will begin singing I-told-you-so’s.

"These Days, Moon Shots Are Domain of the Valley" is from the May 18, 2017 Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Farhad Manjoo and narrated by Kristi Burns.